3 countries. 2 days.
After our relatively slow-paced two-month haul through Bolivia, Cat and I decided to step it up a notch. We visited Chile in the blink of an eye. Seriously, I arrived on Thursday afternoon after a long and arduous 3-day salar-trip and booked tickets to Salta, Argentina for the next day. There's nothing wrong with Chile, honest, it's just that everything's bloody expensive! I've been warned many times by backpackers who've travelled in Chile, but it still came as a bit of a shock. Meals cost almost the same as they do at home. San Pedro may be an exception seeing as the sole reason for its existence is tourism, but I doubt it. It definitely seems like a cool place to spend a few days chilling out, but due to budget restrictions we decided to get out of there as quickly as possible. Maybe next time.
The bus to Salta was lush! I've got nothing against Peruvian and Bolivian bus-services, apart from the occasional 2-hour delay, but getting fed on the bus was a real novelty. Not only were we fed lunch, at about 7 in the evening we stopped of at a hostel and were given complementary sandwiches and tea! Hell yeah. Plus, I completely forgot how comfortable it is driving on paved roads. At one point, when the bus was approaching Salta, it felt like we were heading through European countryside. And there was light pollution - a nice orange/reddish tint in the sky. Just like being in Brussels. Now, I'm totally against any form of pollution (of course), but it did make me a little bit teary-eyed. It's amazing how quickly things change as soon as you cross the border. Chile and Argentina are probably the two most westernised countries in South America and the differences are very apparent - indigenousness is almost nowhere to be found. It certainly feels like I'm one step closer to home. Just had my first Argentinian steak and it was TASTY! A portion is 800 grams. That's nearly a kilo of meat. Mental. Of course Cat and I shared one. Argentinians know how to do meat. After all, a lot of people claim the best (beef)meat in the world comes from here.
The salt flats. Hmmm. To be perfectly honest, it wasn't the most exciting tour I've been on. Sure, the landscapes were dramatically varied, interesting and bizarre, ranging from salt flats (really), deserts, volcanoes, strange rock-formations and what looked like moorland, but it wasn't worth the long days in the jeep. Especially on the second day. We seemed to be covering a lot of distance without seeing anything truly spectacular. The pinnacle was supposed to be the Lago Colorada, which is usually coloured a beautiful shade of red, but when we arrived it looked more like a murky brown. Great. Actually, two things put a real damper on my enjoyment: 1) the incompetence of our "guide" (driver) and 2) a fever I came down with in Uyuni. Our guide didn't even introduce himself. He must have said a grand total of 100 words to the group, most of which he mumbled to the French guy sitting in front who couldn't understand Spanish in the first place! His real triumph, however, was when he dropped our group off (6 people) at a lagoon where we could photograph a group of flamingoes, but then proceeded to drive to the other end of the lagoon without telling us. We turned around and the jeep was gone. So we had to make our way over there ourselves in the freezing cold! That's when we knew he wasn't getting a tip. It's such a shame because the tour company had been recommended to us. The driver just ruined the experience for us. Also, my fever was a real killer. The night prior to the trip we stayed at a hostel in Uyuni (a miserable, bitterly cold and windy place, essentially the Nazca of Bolivia), and I felt cold shivers coming on. Probably a bad sign, but I still decided to go ahead with the Salar trip. Terrible idea. The second night was dreadful. Temperatures below zero and a strong wind was enough to make me feel like death. No matter how many layers I was wearing I couldn't warm up inside. My bones were cold. The whole time I was dreaming of sunny San Pedro. Looking back on it now, I hope I never have to experience a moment like that again. I keep blaming it on the altitude (at one point we reached a pass at 5,000 metres), and I'm not sure if it had any effect, I'm just glad to be in Salta. The Salar always felt like an obstacle we had to pass before reaching lower altitude, even when I was in Potosi.
There's a lot I forgot to mention about Potosi, so I'll do it now. The Spanish lessons were a blast. Alex, our teacher, was an absolute legend. He tended to lose the thread quite regularly and go off on a tangent about what music and film he likes and discuss all sorts of other things such as random Bolivian customs. On the friday before we left, he invited us and Amanda (a Swedish girl who was also taking lessons with him and who we shared a dorm with in the hostel) to his mother-in-law's house for lunch. They were so welcoming and the food was delicious! Alex has a baby boy of 2 years and 8 months old who's just hilarious. On that same day he asked Cat and me (native English speakers - I don't think I qualify somehow) to come into the classroom and speak with the students in his English class, so they could practise their conversational skills. There was a beginners group and an advanced one. One of the boys in the advanced group was practically fluent. And he's only been learning English for two years. Mighty impressive. It turns out he's a huge fan of progressive metal. There you go. The beginners group was much less repsonsive, so we spent the majority of the time speaking Spanish which helped Cat and me out more than them! I think they still got something out of it though. Then on Sunday, Alex threw a party at his mother-in-law's house for Friends' Day (Dia de Amigos), a holiday that doesn't really signify anything. It's a type of Secret Santas. The majority of Alex's beginners English group turned up. Once we exchanged gifts, Alex cracked open the beer and singani (a type of grape brandy), put some traditional Bolivian music on and a-dancing we went! I definitely learned some new moves, although I'm not so sure if I'll be using them when I get back. It was exhausting but lots and lots of fun. Like I said before, Bolivians know how to party. When we weren't in Spanish class we went to our favourite restaurant in Potosi, the Mirador Cafe. It's on top of one of the old churches and has a brilliant view of the city. Plus, it was nice and warm, as the sun always shined in Potosi...
So, the Bolivian adventure has finally come to an end, the Chilean one was pretty much non-existent and the Argentinian one is just about to begin. Our hostel is organising a massive BBQ tonight, which sounds very promising. I also heard that there's a huge party on in a club somwhere in Salta (electronic music), so I'll see what that holds in store.
The bus to Salta was lush! I've got nothing against Peruvian and Bolivian bus-services, apart from the occasional 2-hour delay, but getting fed on the bus was a real novelty. Not only were we fed lunch, at about 7 in the evening we stopped of at a hostel and were given complementary sandwiches and tea! Hell yeah. Plus, I completely forgot how comfortable it is driving on paved roads. At one point, when the bus was approaching Salta, it felt like we were heading through European countryside. And there was light pollution - a nice orange/reddish tint in the sky. Just like being in Brussels. Now, I'm totally against any form of pollution (of course), but it did make me a little bit teary-eyed. It's amazing how quickly things change as soon as you cross the border. Chile and Argentina are probably the two most westernised countries in South America and the differences are very apparent - indigenousness is almost nowhere to be found. It certainly feels like I'm one step closer to home. Just had my first Argentinian steak and it was TASTY! A portion is 800 grams. That's nearly a kilo of meat. Mental. Of course Cat and I shared one. Argentinians know how to do meat. After all, a lot of people claim the best (beef)meat in the world comes from here.
The salt flats. Hmmm. To be perfectly honest, it wasn't the most exciting tour I've been on. Sure, the landscapes were dramatically varied, interesting and bizarre, ranging from salt flats (really), deserts, volcanoes, strange rock-formations and what looked like moorland, but it wasn't worth the long days in the jeep. Especially on the second day. We seemed to be covering a lot of distance without seeing anything truly spectacular. The pinnacle was supposed to be the Lago Colorada, which is usually coloured a beautiful shade of red, but when we arrived it looked more like a murky brown. Great. Actually, two things put a real damper on my enjoyment: 1) the incompetence of our "guide" (driver) and 2) a fever I came down with in Uyuni. Our guide didn't even introduce himself. He must have said a grand total of 100 words to the group, most of which he mumbled to the French guy sitting in front who couldn't understand Spanish in the first place! His real triumph, however, was when he dropped our group off (6 people) at a lagoon where we could photograph a group of flamingoes, but then proceeded to drive to the other end of the lagoon without telling us. We turned around and the jeep was gone. So we had to make our way over there ourselves in the freezing cold! That's when we knew he wasn't getting a tip. It's such a shame because the tour company had been recommended to us. The driver just ruined the experience for us. Also, my fever was a real killer. The night prior to the trip we stayed at a hostel in Uyuni (a miserable, bitterly cold and windy place, essentially the Nazca of Bolivia), and I felt cold shivers coming on. Probably a bad sign, but I still decided to go ahead with the Salar trip. Terrible idea. The second night was dreadful. Temperatures below zero and a strong wind was enough to make me feel like death. No matter how many layers I was wearing I couldn't warm up inside. My bones were cold. The whole time I was dreaming of sunny San Pedro. Looking back on it now, I hope I never have to experience a moment like that again. I keep blaming it on the altitude (at one point we reached a pass at 5,000 metres), and I'm not sure if it had any effect, I'm just glad to be in Salta. The Salar always felt like an obstacle we had to pass before reaching lower altitude, even when I was in Potosi.
There's a lot I forgot to mention about Potosi, so I'll do it now. The Spanish lessons were a blast. Alex, our teacher, was an absolute legend. He tended to lose the thread quite regularly and go off on a tangent about what music and film he likes and discuss all sorts of other things such as random Bolivian customs. On the friday before we left, he invited us and Amanda (a Swedish girl who was also taking lessons with him and who we shared a dorm with in the hostel) to his mother-in-law's house for lunch. They were so welcoming and the food was delicious! Alex has a baby boy of 2 years and 8 months old who's just hilarious. On that same day he asked Cat and me (native English speakers - I don't think I qualify somehow) to come into the classroom and speak with the students in his English class, so they could practise their conversational skills. There was a beginners group and an advanced one. One of the boys in the advanced group was practically fluent. And he's only been learning English for two years. Mighty impressive. It turns out he's a huge fan of progressive metal. There you go. The beginners group was much less repsonsive, so we spent the majority of the time speaking Spanish which helped Cat and me out more than them! I think they still got something out of it though. Then on Sunday, Alex threw a party at his mother-in-law's house for Friends' Day (Dia de Amigos), a holiday that doesn't really signify anything. It's a type of Secret Santas. The majority of Alex's beginners English group turned up. Once we exchanged gifts, Alex cracked open the beer and singani (a type of grape brandy), put some traditional Bolivian music on and a-dancing we went! I definitely learned some new moves, although I'm not so sure if I'll be using them when I get back. It was exhausting but lots and lots of fun. Like I said before, Bolivians know how to party. When we weren't in Spanish class we went to our favourite restaurant in Potosi, the Mirador Cafe. It's on top of one of the old churches and has a brilliant view of the city. Plus, it was nice and warm, as the sun always shined in Potosi...
So, the Bolivian adventure has finally come to an end, the Chilean one was pretty much non-existent and the Argentinian one is just about to begin. Our hostel is organising a massive BBQ tonight, which sounds very promising. I also heard that there's a huge party on in a club somwhere in Salta (electronic music), so I'll see what that holds in store.
posted by Job @ 7/29/2006
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